Apparently Nobby has a conviction for stealing some parts from Team Obsolete. It didn't stop him from getting US citizenship, but he's been thrown out this HoF for not having a clean record. Kenny Roberts & Dick Mann are not happy and have resigned from the HoF.

The withdrawal of his nomination isn't because of his record, he didn't poll enough votes to be an inductee but the Hall of Fame contacted him in error. Dean Adams, who's involved in the nomination process, explains it in detail on his Superbike Planet website. The article is entitled The Ballad Of Nobby And The Hall.
Adams has a bee in his bonnet about wanting to get a nomination for Randy Renfrow, and Renfrow and Jarno Saarinen were the two supposed inductees. Nobby finished third in the poll, so wasn't eligible for induction. Nothing to do with his record.

I believe that the man who made the complaints against Nobby was the owner of Team Obsolete -Robert Ianucci. Nobby has his own version of events which he can tell when he feels ready to do so but it is very different to Ianucci's. I do know that John Britten left a Britten V2 with Ianucci in the early days of the Britten saga for Ianucci to market and I was told by members of the Britten team that he had to threaten to institute legal action before it was finally returned. I also know that Rod Coleman had dealings with Ianucci that may not have ended well. However the worst story I have heard was from Brian Thomas, an elderly Kiwi who built a number of beautiful hand crafted 250cc versions of Manx Nortons - completely from scratch. The work that went into these bikes in Brian's humble little workshop, including making all his own castings, is simply staggering. Some years ago Brian built a bike for Ianucci after Rod Coleman recommended the American lawyer. When I last spoke to Brian his invoice had not been settled ater a number of years and he had despaired of ever being paid. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the experience had blighted Brian's life such was his unhappiness at the way the mattter had turned out. Brian was kicking himself for putting himself in a vulnerable position when he believed his trust was ruthlessly exploited and being a pensioner he lacked the funds to seek legal redress in the US - especially given that his complaint would be defended by a multi millionair New York lawyer.
I have spoken to Nobby who clearly regards Ianucci as one of the most loathsome individuals he has ever had the missfortune to become involved with and personally I believe Nobby tells the truth.
Of course Nobby and Brian might both be completely wrong about the man and he has certainly been made very welcome at all sorts of classic events.

Hi Tim, thanks for your first-hand input, and glad to see you're still keeping a eye on this forum ! There have been a few questions on the "Kiwi on the König" thread about the DVD project you were working on. Any news on that ?

I believe that the man who made the complaints against Nobby was the owner of Team Obsolete -Robert Ianucci. Nobby has his own version of events which he can tell when he feels ready to do so but it is very different to Ianucci's. I do know that John Britten left a Britten V2 with Ianucci in the early days of the Britten saga for Ianucci to market and I was told by members of the Britten team that he had to threaten to institute legal action before it was finally returned. I also know that Rod Coleman had dealings with Ianucci that may not have ended well. However the worst story I have heard was from Brian Thomas, an elderly Kiwi who built a number of beautiful hand crafted 250cc versions of Manx Nortons - completely from scratch. The work that went into these bikes in Brian's humble little workshop, including making all his own castings, is simply staggering. Some years ago Brian built a bike for Ianucci after Rod Coleman recommended the American lawyer. When I last spoke to Brian his invoice had not been settled ater a number of years and he had despaired of ever being paid. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the experience had blighted Brian's life such was his unhappiness at the way the mattter had turned out. Brian was kicking himself for putting himself in a vulnerable position when he believed his trust was ruthlessly exploited and being a pensioner he lacked the funds to seek legal redress in the US - especially given that his complaint would be defended by a multi millionair New York lawyer.I have spoken to Nobby who clearly regards Ianucci as one of the most loathsome individuals he has ever had the missfortune to become involved with and personally I believe Nobby tells the truth.Of course Nobby and Brian might both be completely wrong about the man and he has certainly been made very welcome at all sorts of classic events.

Well, unlike you and me he's put a few mil into the sport. Loves G50's too.

(ii) Team Obsolete "has a history of shifty behavior in itsdealings with AHRMA"; and(iii) The facts indicated that "Team Obsolete has a pattern ofcopying AHRMA's classifications, and that Team Obsoletemay have acted in bad faith when it used [AHRMA's]mark.

Obsolete has engaged in a series of actions designed to increase the costs of the litigation process. Themagistrate judge ordered all factual discovery to be completed by August 15, 2006. Obsoletefailed to comply with this directive, and the discovery deadline was extended. Extensivediscovery and motion practice continued through September 2006.Mr. Iannucci told others that his stated purpose was to bleed ARHMA's resources andthen sue its trustees. Obsolete repeatedly failed to comply with court ordered discovery dates,repeatedly requested adjournments of discovery deadlines, and has made numerous attempts toextend discovery further.Obsolete also served baseless motions designed to drive up the cost of litigation.and this :

In summary, AHRMA has been forced into this Chapter 11 case by a lawsuit which hasbeen protracted by design by Obsolete. AHRMA lacks the resources to defend the actionfurther, and seeks an estimation of the District Court Claim in order to confirm a Plan ofReorganization and continue to operate.

Hi Tim, thanks for your first-hand input, and glad to see you're still keeping a eye on this forum ! There have been a few questions on the "Kiwi on the König" thread about the DVD project you were working on. Any news on that ?

Hello to everyone. I love the Forum and I do keep an eye on it. This regretable business with Nobby needed a response and so do the enquiries about my documentary on Kim Newcombe. I have had a struggle over the last year or so as I have been unable to find a distributor for my book 'Kim - The Kiwi On The Konig' in the UK and local sales have been slow. However it is selling and my partners in the film and I have finished it to the limit of available funding - with maybe 30% to go. We managed to find additonal contemporary footage that was wonderful and I settled with Richard Driver's production company out of court. I had accused Driver of multiple breaches of contract and of stealing my film project after I had taken it to him to produce it with me. Driver had a lot of money behind him and I did not so the settlement was someting of a relief and among other things I obtained my original interview with Janeen Newcombe. This interview was very different to the interviews that Driver subsequently undertook when she was close to death. He and his cronies broke her down emotionally and used that footage in their bleakly indulgent version of my film. My interview features Janeen telling her story of her time with Kim and The Continental Circus the way she always told it - with pride and tremendous joy. Of course there is also sadness but I was careful to treat her with proper respect and she handled the harder moments with courage and dignity. I have also managed to undertake new filming and I had a fantastic session with Rod Tingate and his Konig on a beautiful little track outside Melbourne. On a day that featured torrential rain, lightning, thunder and eventually bright sunshine Rod screamed around the track while we filmed him. I love the footage and it is a great addition to the film. At the moment we are contemplating using 'Crowd Funding' to get the money together to finish the film. We thought that perhaps a signed and dedicated copy of the book (all 1.6 kg of it), a copy of the DVD and a Konig T Shirt for NZ$100 might attract some interest from folk who would like to see the film finished. I'm working on another book and life is generally good. The Commando gets an airing from time to time and as I now live in Central Otago I am lucky to have some of the best riding in the world to enjoy. Just ask Henry Cole! Actually Henry dropped into the pub Janel and I run for lunch and we ended up on one of his dirt bike episodes. We run an annual rally which you can check out on www.bikeweeknz.com.All the bestTim

Having spent an hour or so going through the court publications I have to conclude that we are talking about a very unpleasant man.

Tim, I take it you went to Broadford with Rod.
Sorry about the weather, it won't happen again.
At least you had one of life's gentlemen for company.
I should apologise for mentioning you and Rod in the same post as that other bloke.

Having spent an hour or so going through the court publications I have to conclude that we are talking about a very unpleasant man.

Tim, I take it you went to Broadford with Rod.Sorry about the weather, it won't happen again.At least you had one of life's gentlemen for company.I should apologise for mentioning you and Rod in the same post as that other bloke.

Don't apologise for the weather - it was fantastic. The track was indeed Broadford ( a truly magic place with a brilliant little track on the side of a hill in the country) and in the end we managed to put together a great shoot. When we left Rod's place in the morning it was overcast and on the way the heavens opened - flooding on both sides of the road etc. We got to the track and set up and as we did so it stopped raining. Rod went out on the Konig on a streaming track with a Triumph Speed Tripple chase bike. We had cameras on both bikes and a small crew who usually shoot the Aussie V8 series moving around the track and all looked good. We just got going when a small split in the Konig's tank, a result of rough handling when it was shipped back to Australia after coming over to NZ for our Classic Festival. leaked fuel onto the rotary valve belt and messed up the timing. So back to the pits and while we were there the rain returned as bad as ever - with thunder and lightning. Rod fixed the bike and we waited until late in the afternoon when suddenly the skies cleared and the sun came out. We had thunder clouds at one end of the track and blue skies at the other. There was a lot of steam and it looked like we spent thousands on special effects. Rod went for it with the back stepping out and so on. He does not know how to go slow! In the end it was as dramatic as we could have wished for. They say that if you are sick of the weather in Victoria just wait five minutes. It was a little longer than that but it came through for us. I intend to use an edited version of the shoot as part of a trailer when we set up the Crowd Funding site.I thoroughly enjoy every day I spend with Rod - and his gorgeous wife Louise- and he keeps proving just how talented he is as a rider and an engineer. He's a regular star in Aussie Classic racing and he continues to build wonderful bikes. He sent me photos of a Harley circuit racer he recently completed (frame and all) and it's stunning. I'll try and post the pics. Regarding the matter with Nobby it is gratifying to see the record being redressed. It just might be that no matter how much money and power you have the truth will out. I sure hope so.

Good to hear that all worked out well for you Tim.
If I'd known what you were doing I would have come up to say hello.
I love Broadford so much that I will be moving there later this year.
Hope everything goes well for you.
Regards, John

Hi John,
Broadford is indeed a special place - well worth moving next door! I believe there's a huge annual multi dicipline classic meeting there. I did not have a chance to look about but is there a trials and scrambles track as well as a speedway oval?
It would be good to know more about the meeting.

Good to hear that all worked out well for you Tim.If I'd known what you were doing I would have come up to say hello.I love Broadford so much that I will be moving there later this year.Hope everything goes well for you.Regards, John

Hi Tim, I think the meeting you are referring to is the Broadford Bonanza.
This is a non competitive festival of motorcycling held over Easter and involves all disciplines.
We have dirt track, speedway, motocross, scrambles, trials and road race tracks available.
If you email me an address I will send you this year's programme.
tadpole37atoptusnet.com.au
You can keep up to date with developments on the Motorcycling Australia website and with Broadford on the Motorcycling Victoria website.

No, I wasn't actually at Broadford but would have driven up from Melbourne had I known.
I should talk to Rod more often.
Cheers, John